


Songs of the Jade Kingdoms

by surenlicious



Series: Jade Kingdoms [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Grief/Mourning, Major Original Character(s), Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Original Fiction, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, References to Depression, Royalty, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2019-11-16 16:22:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18097871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/surenlicious/pseuds/surenlicious
Summary: A collection of drabbles and one-shots of my story Jade Kingdoms, giving a little more insight in its characters and lore. This is a good place to start before you go to my main story, Jade Kingdoms.Chapter 5: Shaped in the body of a lethargic man, he was in fact the unspeakable King of Monsters.





	1. The Royal family: The Rueful Princess

 

 

_The Princess of the Jade Kingdoms is known to be forever draped in a cloak of everlasting melancholy._

 

✿

 

Not always were the halls leading up to the Princess' quarters a place of rising delight. Not always did the halls sang their quiet, pleasant hum of gentle admission and subtle warning of sealing spells crafted by her own fair hand.

 

On days like those, the rueful sighs of the Princess strangled the Jade castle's foundations never giving off the indications it would ever let go. 

 

The Jade Knights sometimes had to help a frightened civilian passerby and gently usher them onward, explaining the Vritra pathokinesis was acting up again. And while they offered their most placid smiles, trained eyes could see in a Jade Knight's jeweled eyes that he was visibly disturbed as well.

It mattered not if the following day the Princess had stepped out of her room and returned back to a felicitous conduct, greeting all that passed her with her kind presence. Vritra had a way of forever marking places with their pathokinesis, leaving bits and pieces of themselves behind in manners that would forever haunt the spot of it's branding.

 

Yet, it was forbidden to speak of such matters.

 

Princess Suren was a unique Vritra. Unique in the sense of her ability to be drawn to love. Love was something Vritra treated like it was a unfathomable plague, be it a leftover from the dragon Vritra's greed or simply something genetics allowed to happen or worse, their dictations of the Principles of Truth demanding to be adhered.

Love. It was a omnipresent force, known to the many cultures and races of the world, yet the mightiest race of the planet had a vivid disinclination toward it. Did they see it as a sign of weakness? Perhaps an atrocity that will leave sour tastes if indulged in it too much? No Vritra that would ever speak about it, but no human view could come close to how they saw the world. Or emotions.

But, one could speak about it with Princess Suren. Gently. Softly. 

 

_In secrecy._

 

The Princess spoke always in delicate tones, her words sublimely considered and soft as silken fabrics. Never demanding or enforcing, that was who Princess Suren was.

 And it was this way of who she was, that made her a target for her kin.

Name-calling never was a part of it, but she was regarded as a anomaly. Vritra had a sour manner of speech, even in their stolen human tongue, when it came to fellow Vritra that did not follow the Principles of Truth. That couldn't be encompassed in the sovereign mantle that was the Vritra society and it's suffocating dictations. 

The whispers could be heard daily on this strange astral plane where Vritra communicated through pathokinesis only. No words or any tongues of humanity, Garuda or whatever race that used speech. This was speaking through emotion only, and speaking through that which only could be felt could not be cloaked under deception of any kind. These were truths, and it eventually became the dictata of the Princicples of Truth.

Princess Suren learned in secrecy to silence the voices. Silence became her luxury, to feel neither emotions or hear words from anyone that sought to break her and reform her pieces in the way _they_ wanted her to become, that became her goal. 

A sanctuary, she had once softly admitted. Though she felt to her sorrow no such place existed in this horrendous mortal realm, where anyone that lived for only a hundred years would feel empathy for someone set to live for millennia to come.

 

It had broken her heart.

 

Where in this world was there freedom, the allowing to choose your own path and not be shot down if mistakes and obstacles were made and found?

The Princess had said in a even more quiet voice, she had not found that place. You could almost _hear_ the moment where her heart broke, and you could not look her in the eye for then your own heart would be set to break next.

And still, it did not do way with her kindness. If anything, her constant drowning in sorrow only made _more_ kindness and mercy surface. As if she had decided others were deserving of hope, and she would give them that hope even if it meant she would be pulled under water and sink to the bottom of the deep and endless sea.

Sometimes, she'd be accompanied by a Jade Knight. These were humans trained in pathokinesis for purposes humans are not suitable for, but the King and his Knights knew of their duties and remained utterly silent and tightlipped about this purpose.

Yet, it was this sliver of pathokinesis their systems were becoming attuned to, that allowed them to _feel_ her sorrow. Jade Knights carry disciplines that made sure they weren't going to drown along in whatever emotion was being emitted, so they could offer her comfort. Offer her mercy, where she would not receive none from her kin. Thus Jade Knights took the place of those that were meant to ease pain, and the Princess loved them ever so deeply for it.

 

The Princess sometimes would not come out of her room for days. Those sensitive to the plane of the hurricane of emotions, could sense the emotional attacks she quietly endured. Much were of the Queen's hand, whom had some of the most disturbing means to damage the mind. A Vritra's mind is unique in it's defences and for its natural barrier the Mental Fortitude to begin to break, it requires severe emotional trauma.

Which, regrettably, is one of the most feared specialties of the Vritra race.

Under the mantle of "teachings" and "upbringings" the Princess suffered through atrocities warlords dared not use on their enemies. And yet, she stood up every time again.

Standing straight, even with tears falling from her eyes. Performing duty and creed, even when crying silently to herself around the corners of tall buildings offering her shelter. Or the occasional warm shoulder of a Jade Knight.

 

Strength comes in many forms. Not all types of strength demand glory, presence and awe. Some come in the forms of silence, endurance and quiet courage despite steep terror. It comes through mercy and kindness, and being able to keep on emitting them without losing one's self to the pitch-black abyss. 

 

"Little things." The Princess had once summed them up, not wanting to go in detail of what she felt, yet still explaining everything through these two simple words.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! So I've been wanting to make a collection of short stories for my original story Jade Kingdoms, so I came up with this. Tiny bits and pieces exploring the characters of Jade Kingdoms, and give you more insight as Jade Kingdoms itself is gonna be one hell of a story and characters progress and such might take a while, so I came up with this. XD
> 
> I hope you like it, and do poke me at my socials (they're in my profile hehe) if you wanna stay on track of my story, art or just wanna talk. Leave me a comment and tell me what you like about my story too, love you and keep an eye out for the next chapters! :D


	2. The Royal family: The Heinous Duke

 

_The Duke of Serpents was said to be a psychopath in the making._

 

✿

 

The Southern part of the Jade Kingdom was by tradition ruled by members of the Dragon Tail clan. At the time, the first Jaded Southern Beast was gifted a slice of the Kingdom's land to assist the King in his rule and the lesser races moved in to live with which Jaded Beast they deemed held their best interests.

It was to enhance unity of the Kingdom.

The Four Jaded Beasts of the Jade Kingdom were mighty Vritra aristocrats whom had the absolute faith of the High Council, were supported by the leaders of this same High Council - known as the Four Clovers of the High Council - and were allowed to assist the Jade King in his rule of the Jade Kingdom. Some were skilled in the arts of war, others were the most fluent diplomats and others were known for their crafts to assist the civilians.

The South was filled with beaches and edged at the beginnings of the seas and oceans of the continent and planet. Water was everything to the South, a cruel irony to the dragon Vritra whom once held all the waters of the world to itself, allowing millions to die due to the drought in the Old Age of the world. 

Or so the legend goes.

The Beast of the South took care of his people flawlessly and the age of prosperity only flourished as centuries past. The Southern Kingdom became a magnet for countless of races seeking to indulge themselves in the opulence of this fulfilling life. The Vritra prided themselves in this stature of absolute glory and felt no one in the world could ever unmake what was build here.

 

And thus none of them were prepared for the decline of an entire bloodline. 

 

2300 years after the rule of the first Southern Beast, the Dragon Tail clan seemed to collapse with inner disputes. These disputes seemingly came out of no where. Council Members demanding answers were given false bravado and the "it-will-be-fine" mantle of lies. The mantle failed to cloak the real contravention; an outbreak of Jade Constructs which ended up killing many of the Dragon Tail clan members.

In the history of the South were never so many means and solutions created and hastily enforced, and none of them seemed to help. From secrecy to codes of silence; everything was done to sweep the whole fiasco under the rug, yet still it couldn't be prevented for this knowledge to reach the King's ears. Even the King's solutions were exhausted, and their conclusions were grim.

_Nothing worked._

There was nothing in the arsenal of the Vritra of that time that could save the Dragon Tail clan from breaking under the weight of their ordeal as they died from their Jade Constructs. Civilians began to question their concerns with the many changes in power, wondered where their politicians had run off to, not aware of the ever growing pile of corpses in the ruined fields beyond the lush forests. 

The countless Jade Constructs eventually were steered toward a plane, we now call the Fields of Ruin. A graveyard for all Dragon Tail members to have shamefully died to their Jade Construct, though in modern times it is rumored to be filled with Constructs from other Vritra clans as well.

The Royal family, the Dragon Tongue clan, demanded a new solution to be made. At the peak of the struggle, the Queen's younger sister, back then still known to be as Countess Sariel, made an offer. An offer laced with her own motivations and iron will no one would be able to escape.

 

 _She_ would take command over the South. 

 

Sister to Queen Fionne, Sariel was a terror in her own right. Where the Queen was instilled fear on all with her expressionless judgement, Sariel was a sadistic soul relishing in the torment of the lesser beings. And fellow Vritra so it seemed.

The Royal family agreed, not aware of how history for the Vritra was now taking a turn with this decision. 

A cold, icy wind took grasp over the hot, humid South, clinging to skin and scale and presenting itself as the only warning it would give in announcing the new age to come.

The Countess elevated to Duchess and her diamond cutting claws extinguished the last dying embers of the Second Age of the Southern Kingdom. The people would learn to treat their new Duchess with a respect that was no more than mandate veneration. Sariel attempted to take not a single step to prevent the further plague of death that seemed to haunt the Dragon Tail clan, nor did she do any damage control.

She watched, uncaringly, as what she named to be the "genetic defects" to die out. What happened in the Southern Kingdom, Sariel failed to mention, was happening at the other parts of the Kingdom as well. The Kingdom stooped in secrecy, holding off the affair from it's inhabitants and adding to sins that would surely return to haunt them. Dragon Tails, Dragon Scales and even the seemingly impeccant Dragon Eye clan...all were either reduced to dust or their survivors scattered themselves as they attempted to flee the Kingdom hoping to be freed from their curse.

As they died, the Duchess grew in power. Undeterred, the Duchess branded the South with her marks and sigils and no one dared to question her.

And so it was Duchess Sariel too prevented the coming of a new Southern Beast, using her frightening political manipulation to sway the High Council in exerting her will, leaving all power to herself...

 

...and her son.

 

Where the Duchess always carried that placid smile full of secrets and knowing, her only son, Duke Vandrake, always held a scowl of well-buried fury concealed within his youthful features. As the years past into decades, centuries and even millennia of their combined rule, the Duchess' reign of iron-fisted terror faded from the people's attention, and became replaced with obsession over their Duke whom held the gaze of all in both the realms of fear and awe. 

Vandrake walked the world with a dance of sophisticated elegance only mastered by those skilled in the top tier art of manipulation. Be it politics, motivations or simply the bending of one's will, Vandrake did this so skillfully, it was like watching a demi-god in the making performing his art.

The Duke received a title from the members of the Four Clover Council, the representatives from the four parts of the Jade Kingdom; he would now be formally addressed as the Duke of Serpents. It was a title laced with the Council's subtle frown to the Duchess Sariel; beware, for we have chosen a new champion to shackle your will.

The Duke of Serpents has smiled wickedly at this new persona that was bestowed upon him, not letting in on whether he understood the power given to him or not. The truth of Vandrake's motives would never leave his lips, such secrets the Duke would take to his grave.

Many watched dumbstruck when the economy flourished due to whatever strings the fair Duke saw fit to pull. New trade relations were forged, some even by former warlords that had tried to invade the South, but were always intercepted by the Duke of Serpents himself. And later, by inhabitants so adept at manipulations, one could almost _see_  this was the handy-work of the Duke in their actions.

It was said, the Duke favored experimenting. Humans living in the Southern Kingdom became beggars of knowledge under his rule. Longed for every piece of truth they could find, as if that had become their food instead of the plants and meat they'd normally consume. 

Obsessed. Dependant. Addicted.

And Vandrake fed them their knowledge, using the mightiest form of political play as he nurtured his people through subtle means of propaganda and manipulation. A nudge at the right places and they reformed. The Vritra watched in horror as the humans of the South began to behave almost like they did; Vandrake had programmed them successfully to serve in the image he had envisioned. Yet it's true purpose eluded all.

Vritra shuddered at the mentioning of Vandrake's name in the centuries to come. A black sheep some said he was, others felt him to be the most genius psychopath ever to be blessed in the Vritra ranks. He single-handedly reprogrammed every civilian that came to live in the Southern Kingdom, but for what purpose the Duke never revealed.

It mattered not. The Duke of Serpents was a politician that knew the game and knew how to set it to his hand. Much to the approval of his mother, whom watched in glee at what her son managed to achieve. He was another one of her 'jewels' she had polished and perfected.

This sense of pride she emitted the Duke spat upon hatefully. It seemed he and Princess Suren were kindred spirits when it came to how they felt about their family.

Whatever it was the Vritra felt about him, he cared absolutely nothing about. In that aspect, he was nothing like his cousin Suren.  The Duke had learned not to.

 

Still, the Duke was not everywhere ill-favored; the humans _loved_ him. Especially women.

 

On their 14th birthday, girls were send to the Duke's estate where they would receive their coming-of-age gift, hand-crafted by the Duke himself. A Jade ring, to be worn on their index finger. It was rare for any Vritra to be able to bend magic to create physical arts and crafts, but the Vandrake never had a problem with it. Some say this is due to the unyielding will of the Duke, which bled shamelessly into his own pathokinesis.

Humans considered this ritual as the blessing of the Duke for girls to find their future husband, and he let them. They were thankful for being allowed to pursue so much knowledge, and they couldn't have known the Duke _wanted_ them to drown in the domains of knowledge...

 

...for he searched their minds looking for a specific piece of truth. 

 

Vritra had a collective mind. Before Vritra had stolen speech from humanity, all they communicated with was their pathokinesis. Some call it communications through the astral plane, others said it was using pathokinesis on fabrics of Time itself which only Vritra can access. It was a plain of communication without words, if one was focussed they could see memory, thought and most valuable of all, feeling. And sometimes, flashes from the past.

It was not unknown Jade Constructs did the same thing, except a Jade Construct showed everything related to the Vritra that created them. A personal tapestry, if you will...one who's very threads are deadly to it's spectators.

With humans, Vandrake probed thought. He knew what his people were doing, and searched the collective of humanity hoping to find memory of a certain individual not even the Vritra would speak about.

"Why are you probing your pets?" His mother had teasingly asked one day, a tone Vandrake did not tolerate from her in the slightest. That tone meant bait, lies and humiliation.

He had not answered her.  

But when he looked Suren in the eyes on the day a silent Jade Construct had gone rogue, searched her frightened eyes for anything he could use and manipulate, he figured the only way to do so was give her a bite of his Golden Apple. 

And so he whispered in her ear the name he had found after exhausting entire generations of humans, holding her arms in a tight grip as his manic eyes ordered her to listen and take on the burden of his web of decadence.

 

On that day, Vandrake knew the decline of his sanity had begun. But it was worth it, worth all the generations now rotting in the ground. 

 

For the Duke of Serpents had plowed his fangs through all in his Kingdom and his poison had begun to spread. Now it was time to turn his deranged focus to the Vritra next. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, Vandrake. I love writing my psychopath son. with Vandrake I always have to dose myself, how much am I willing to share about this character that will have such a major impact on the story? Too much I catch myself on everytime, so I have already implemented too many hints of lore and stuff set to come in the future Jade Kingdoms chapters, haha!
> 
> Again, do poke me at my socials (they're in my profile) if you wanna stay on track of my story, art or just wanna talk. Leave me a comment and tell me what you like about my story too, love you and keep an eye out for the next chapters! :D


	3. The Royal family: The Complacent Duchess

 

_The Duchess of the Southern Kingdom would always smile, surrounded by the corpses of her enemies._

 

✿

 

Once upon a time, the first Beast of the Eastern Kingdom bared two daughters; a set of sisters of the next generation of Vritra. They were Fionne and her younger sister Sariel. Fionne was set in line to become the Jade Queen, a position her mother refused with a vile laughter when it was presented to her. The eldest of the sisters never smiled. She had neither radiance nor luster and evoked fear wherever she went.

The youngest of the sisters, Sariel, always had a smile. Never did she wear a smile of kindness, it was a complacent smile riddled with knowing sins and vicious satisfaction.

Not once could it be stated Sariel ever stood in the shadow of her elder sister, her future Queen. The position never mattered, Sariel would say with that same smile that was entirely mirthless by default. But the Vritra surrounding her knew better, knew and sensed the truth coming off her in a waterfall of maddening emotions.

 

Jealousy, avarice, admiration. Sariel loathed and coveted her sister all the same.

 

How their mother enjoyed the sisters' malicious rivalry. Their aspirations danced around each other and caused the sisters to grow apart in the pursuit of their own goals. And, their mother happily added oil to the blazing inferno of their misery.

Aeolus, as the First Beast of the Eastern Kingdom was called, was a Vritra so reprehensible many thought her to be one of the parts of the original Dragon Vritra. A surviving part, manifested by whatever greed was left behind by that behemoth that caused the Old World to go through their knees. 

Her daughters inherited that malice, and did nothing as the East heaved and creaked under the draining rule of the mad Beast whom cared for no other but herself. Sariel loved her mother's atrocious games, thus never saw her sister readying her plan. Never saw that her sister could see the bigger picture.

Masking her intentions flawlessly, Fionne let not a single soul in on her tactics. Her plans to overthrow her mother were hers to know alone, all she did was give a little prod here and a little nudge there and manipulated everything to her hand. Her small, seemingly meaningful actions spread like an oil stain and soon an entire populace was turned against Aeolus and a uprising like the which have not seen since the days of the monstrosity Vritra himself came to be.

Aeolus was a massive woman of four meters tall. Her hair was long and wavy, and her eyes pierced through one's soul. But the look of horror and maddening pride at the revolt staged by her eldest daughter overthrowing her rule, the future Queen to all Vritra, cracked what remains of her already declining sanity. Before anyone could lay a hand on the Eastern Beast, Aeolus shrieked like a wounded animal and the fields of time and space bend around her becoming twisted and distorted with her shrill screams. Green colours leaked into the world, drowning all other colours and moving around in facets tearing through time even more. And then, after forming it's twisted form as it poured into reality, came forth the massive towering Jade Construct from her body, rising up in the skies like a crystal tower spun like a spool of wool threads locking Aeolus in and ending her life as silence returned to the land. And what would haunt all who looked the the Construct's masterpiece was her expression of deranged satisfaction plastered upon her face forever. 

 

Aeolus, the First Beast of the Eastern Kingdom, had entombed herself within her own Jade Construct in front of the eyes of the people coming to overthrow her.

 

And even now it was not over, for the sadistic Vritra had left them a parting gift; still reeling from their initial shock of what Aeolus just did, those who stared at her Jade Construct became strangely entranced by it. As if it pulled them in to look at it.

Slowly the crowd scuffled closer, not aware of the hateful trap Aeolus had left for them, her frozen expression laughing at them as none would escape. Behaving like an enchanted mirror, the people moved closer to the Jade Construct unaware of the cuts and injuries appearing on their bodies the longer they looked. Hypnotized, no one could move a muscle at the increasing number of cuts, until thousands of cuts sliced into their bodies by invisible knives and swords the longer their entranced forms kept staring into the Jade Construct with no ability to look away. Aeolus had successfully left her final curse to her people, lifeless eyes watching them die in sadistic glee.

The future Queen and her sister would later find the bodies of hundreds of people lying dead in front of what would later be known as the 'Tower of Aeolus'. Fionne herself stopped humans and Vritra from entering the courtyard, ordering all to "close their eyes and look at nothing". 

 

Eerily, when she and Sariel looked at the Construct, nothing happened.

 

The people were left with a bittersweet taste. They had succeeded, yet still Aeolus had managed to be one step ahead of them. A cruel step that had left many dead in its wake. Many were angry too, and demanded the sisters to fix the wrongdoings. Others demanded them to leave, afraid of what other misfortune would befall them next. 

Sariel prepared herself to take a bold step; to seize the waning power of her mother and use it to steer the East to a new dawn. And then her sister stepped up, and announced upfront the East would not be claimed by the members of their bloodline. 

"No Dragon Tongue shall take the reigns of the East after the long rule of Aeolus. Let a new clan step forward and uphold the creed of the Principles of Truth to guide the masses." Fionne declared solemnly. 

This time however, Sariel would not stay quiet. And so, she abolished all of her carefully constructed posture and became _livid_ at her sister's meddling. "I will not be cast aside in the claim of what I rightfully _own_! You will inherit an entire kingdom or did you happen to leave that part out, _sister_???"

 

Silence and cowering fear crept into the crowd as their eyes slowly turned to look at the woman who had apparently managed to crack open the adamantine heart of the legendary reclused King of the Vritra society.

 

And along with the humans, Garuda and even the Beriach race, Sariel's composure stiffened as she looked horrified as to what she had just said. For Sariel Dragon Tongue had just lost her final piece in her game of politics, and given her sister the chalice to godhood.

Those amassed around her now saw the difference between her and her sister, where Fionne had ascended and Sariel been downcast to the lesser product. And nothing Sariel could say could stop the sudden kneeling of the people in front of their future Queen, their eyes closed and downcast as they bowed before Fionne and silently pledged their allegiance to her.

The Dragon Tongue clan, would rise to power and be the next Vritra clan to supply both a King and a Queen, diminishing the light of glory of the Dragon Heart clan. If any remained.

Fionne had proved herself to be able to rise above her given handicaps and present herself as a candidate to be Queen. But it was not the end for her younger sister. For Sariel learned from this experience.

 

And waited.

 

When word of the genocide from the Southern Kingdom reached Sariel's ears, sadism shared space with opportunity. " _I_ will take command of the South." She declared, and her smile send all those surrounding her reeling.

It was a promise of lies, and one could almost feel the shudder far in the South at the coming of the soon-to-be Duchess. Where Sariel saw opportunity to present herself as the new savior and better of the two sisters, those around her saw darkness descending. Sariel would become the Duchess Sariel, feared by her accompanying epitaph the 'Headless Serpent'. A title meaning no matter how many times the Duchess would 'lose' her head, the body would not die.

Without its head, it merely became feral.

In the years that followed, with Fionne ascending to the title of Queen to rule beside King Belmont's side, Sariel became the Duchess of the Southern Kingdom. The Dragon Tongue clan now ruled in so many places leaving their biggest feat to be the supplying of the Vritra King and Queen. And Duchess...and Duke.

 

 _Her_ Vandrake who's existence was nothing more than to be the mightiest pawn she had prepared for her long term plans.

 

Sariel loved wrapping her fingers around her son's throat. Loved the way he choked as his pulse both quickened and slowed whilst staring at her with rancorous intentions. Loved the way darkness festered in his heart when she deliberately decided not to offer her son love in the 2000 years his heart had been beating. Loved how she sabotaged his entire life to make him hate her. Loved how his very blood become downright acidic whenever he saw her. Loved how Vandrake wanted nothing more than for her to die and would happily mangle her corpse in rancorous victory for all to see.

Sariel loved all of it. Vandrake, her sole possession and weapon of mass destruction loathed her above anything else in this world. His hatred was of such purity it could create mass genocide if Vandrake ever decided to let it bleed into his pathokinesis. It tugged at her son's sanity, and Sariel would patiently await his breaking point in miserable glee.

A breaking point that never came. How disappointed Sariel was when Vandrake showed not a single sign of creating a Jade Construct. Perhaps her son was defect? It probably did not matter in the long run.

Sometimes Sariel cannot help but mull over if and how Vandrake would kill her. The Duchess hopes it would be in the throneroom of the Jade Castle, where her sister can see the maniac she's created from her own flesh rampaging and ending the Dragon Tongue lineage with violent ambition.

It would shatter everything the Principles had ever demanded the Vritra to follow. And yet, Sariel desired more.

Had planned so much more.

All her murder fantasies aside, the Duchess had everything meticulously planned out. What strings to pull, who to push and nudge, which council members to remove and appoint. Which clans to take over after the Dragon Tongues were dead, who could supply the next King and Queen, which Vritra were allowed to step up and claim the positions of the current Four Beasts in such an order and cycle which would slowly lead them into their own doom. 

 

The extinction of an entire race, as it should have been when Indra descended from the heavens and slew the dragon Vritra Himself.

 

The glass of wine in her hand cracked under the pressure of her tightening grip. No more Vritra, no more life. Vritra Himself failed to kill life on this world, and its descendants had to finish everything, Sariel decided long ago. Humans deserved nothing, Garuda had to choke in their love rituals and the Beriach were nothing but falsities between lesser races and the Distance demon. It had to end. Everything had to end. The Vritra charity had lasted long enough. No more misery.

 

Sariel vowed, in fuming anger, on her sister's flawless poise and her mother's maniacal curse, she would end them _all_. 

 

 


	4. The Royal family: The Morbid Queen

 

_The Queen of the Jade Kingdom was the forewarning of horrors to come._

 

✿

 

We dare not look her in the eye. 

 

Out of respect and terror, we bow as low as we can go. We keep our eyes peeled on the marble floor of the Jade Castle, making sure to keep our vision as close to our feet as we possibly can so that not even her reflection is seen. 

For the Queen of the Jade Kingdom is Pestilence in its truest form. You do _not_ want to make contact with it.

The King sits on his throne, eyes closed, as if deep in meditation. He utters not a single word during our visit and we hear only the few words the Queen spares for us. Not once do we feel the terror of their aura, but we know it watches us. Awaits the moment in which it can finally suffocate us.

Vritra are one of the three Primal Races. They are so old and so tenacious entire generations of humans speak about having known the same Vritra faces for centuries. Their kingdom is one of peace and prosperity...but even we can see they are not kind to themselves.

My name is Magnus, and I am a merchant in exquisite fabrics. I am often summoned to dress the Jade Knights, for my material knows how to carry their deconstruction magics without fail. And the fact much of my fellow humans are in the Jade Knight ranks is an extra plus. No need to worry about scales tearing fabrics...Or acidic blood burning holes in places that are downright embarrassing.

I receive my commission and with another bow (I think I cannot go any lower than this though) I stand up. I gaze up toward the King, and I manage to quickly stifle a yelp of surprise (terror, my mother would argue) when I catch his celadon eyes seemingly having been boring right into my blue ones for a while now. No expression comes to his features, but I do not sense his monstrous aura either. 

I quickly clear my throat, and usher my tailors to follow me toward the mansion of the Jade Knights. Just as our feet leave the throneroom's threshold, we feel the sting of both the Royal auras flare up like sickening infernos.

We never speak about it. I am not sure if we even dare to.

 

"...Magnus?"

 

I gulp. My heartbeat quickens. My eyes turn to my right side, my tailors bowing their heads with relieved smiles on their faces for we are greeted by the Princess of the Jade Kingdom...

...whom I am greatly infatuated with. Or perhaps it is something more, but I _really_ musn't speak of such things.

If Princess Suren were to blink her eyes, my life could already have been extinguished. Human life is nothing to a Vritra, a being capable of becoming millennia old. 

And yet to her, we are so so _precious_.

She comes up to us with tranquility radiating from her very being, and I close my eyes when she cups my face in between her soft hands. I feel her breath flutter down on my hair and she carefully brushes my blonde bangs from my face.

My left bangs have blue streaks in them - a remnant from some genetic code which sprung to life in my family tree long ago - which I have noticed humans tend to frown upon but the Vritra (and the other Primal races apparently) seem to enjoy a lot.

I always loved how accepting the Princess is of me. Maybe that is why I...

 

...Ah. No. Let's not do that.

 

She lets go of me - and I very much ignore the sudden pain in my heart - and I look up to smile at her. "My fair Lady Suren. Did you receive my gift for you?" 

The Princess smiles softly, and lovingly rubs the shawl hanging loosely on either side of her arms. "I have indeed and I love it dearly. But truly, you musn't make me such things free of charge, that is not fair to your business." 

I try not to melt as she speaks, but I still nod like an idiot very much ignoring her plea. "Yes, Princess. I shall very much refrain from making you the next gift I am currently preparing with my finest damask."

Suren stifles a chuckle with her hand, shaking her head. "Oh, Magnus. What am I going to do with you..." She says gently, but still her tone is light.

I look down to view the shawl I made fo her. I knew my Princess loves mint colours, so I picked sea green to go with her seemingly black dress. I say seemingly, because untrained eyes do not see the deep, dark aquamarine that is actually the colour of her dress. When I pointed it out to her, the smile she gave me nearly send me down squealing like a...well, little girl shall we say. 

The Princess truly has a knack for making my bloodpressure angry with me.

"The Jade Knights are ready for you and your tailors, Magnus. I believe Knight Hymnor may have a few adjustments he wishes to make, and Knight Malachor is looking for a stronger fabric for his night cloak."

I swallow. Not because I am nervous with the assignments I seem to have coming up, but because of why the Princess knows this. It means she was just with the Jade Knights...

...and when she goes to them it means she was sad.

My Princess flees to the Jade Knights for their mansion is considered to be a sanctuary in her eyes. She is safe with them. Safe from the Queen's terrible reach.

"Won't you accompany us, Princess?" I ask her, if only to assist in helping her avoid the Queen for as long as I can. Her smile is radiant, full of mercy and light and she nods. "I shall guide you to their doorstep." She allows, and she bows her head to me and turns and we begin following the Princess of the Jade Kingdom to see her Knights.

I watch the flow of her beautiful peridot hair rising up easily in the momentum of her graceful waltz - I have to actually dodge the blue tips nearly poking my nose - using it as an easy marker to find her when she turns corners. 

I never feel her. The Princess is tranquil - she always has been - and I find that to be utterly incomparable to the pestilence that is her mother.

The King and Queen are prime examples of Vritra who's Scourges are legendary and omnipotent. You can feel them _everywhere_ in the Kingdom, a level of dominance I do not think a human could even begin to recreate. 

I do not know enough about the Queen to form a wholesome opinion of her. She is my Queen too, and I serve her as is expected of me and all living within her Kingdom.

 

But I see the effect she has on her daughter.

 

We, humans, love the Princess. We love her compassion, her softness and the mercy she radiates. 

The Queen subjugates. You bend to _her_ will, no questions asked or permission given. 

A common theme amongst Vritra. I dare not claim if this is the legacy the dragon Vritra left for them, but I sure as hell am not seeing any evidence suggesting He didn't either. God, do they love overwhelming and enforcing. Pathokinesis isn't even an art for them - it's not even magic -  it's part of _them_. Vritra pathokinesis is what gravity is to humanity; it's a natural part of them.

Which means it overrides everything you are when you feel it, the Scourge is something so terrible I think plenty of people have died because of it.

And my Princess once told me, that is not even the worst Vritra can throw at eachother. She would know, sadly.

I never asked her to tell me more. I...have no right. 

I do sometimes think about why the King isn't reeling his wife in. Not to be cruel, to talk to her. I mean, if the King and Queen change themselves they can make laws for the entire Vritra race to....change their ways?

But my Princess has already once told me, in ways I can understand, this is not how it works for the Vritra. 'Talking things out' doesn't work in a society so ancient and so primordial. Though they look like just a bunch of hybrid humans, they are in truth so much more. They are one of the three Primal Races, and a human like me cannot understand what that might mean. 

My own race, humanity, was nearly extinct by the dragon Vritra. We will never regain our former glory. Not when you have two other powerhouses like the Garuda and Beriach circling the world along with the Vritra.

Maybe that is why my Princess is so affected by her mother's inability to accept - and understand - her for who she is. The Queen rejects all Vritra who do not fit the mold they were 'designed' for.

All Vritra reject those that do not follow the design of their conduct. 

 

All, but my Princess. And for that, she is punished and faced with terrible repugnance **.**

 

I see the remains of tears in her eyes. I see the impact certain words have on her. I see how she shrinks at certain noises and situations. I see how she wants nothing more but to run away and lock herself within the confines of a safe cocoon.

But she is not safe in her silken barrier. For the Queen always vehemently decimates whatever safety my Princess finds, pulling her daughter out by the hair and throwing her to the ground where I pray to every god I name (including Indra himself of all people) to beg them the Queen does not hurt her.

I dare not to ask my Princess, if the Queen ever got physical with her. But I know.

Every lesser race knows. 

We all feel her pain on the days Princess Suren is _not_ tranquil for her sorrow sends us to our very knees as we cry along with her. The whole Kingdom sinks into a deep depression on the days Suren's rueful moans leak form the doors of her room where we all bow down in reverence to her despondency. 

And no one tells the Queen to stop. 

Those who do have the gall to look the Queen straight in the eyes feel the full might of Vritra pathokinesis invade their mind, the breaking of neurological connections and the erosion of all they are. And without a sigh or a warning, you see them suddenly the fall to the floor and you know they will move no more.

My Princess had once gently warned me when I found her crying one day. Held me back when I fumed and wanted to march straight up to the Queen.

 

"Do not defy the Queen for my sake..." She had whispered to me back then, resting her forehead between my shoulder blades as she held my hand. "...You will die." 

 

I refrained from telling her dying for her would be my highest honor. 

My musings end abruptly when I nearly bump into my Princess and I see we stand in front of the massive, but elegantly designed gates of the Jade Knight headquarters. Princess Suren peers over her shoulder and she smiles, "Here we are. The gate defences have been adjusted for you, so you may enter whenever you wish."

I nod at her, bringing up my best smile and I give my tailors the go to enter in first. We both watch as my people make the stride toward the doors, and see two Knights come out to greet - and guide them past their defences - them through.

Alone with me now, some of her smile dampens, and the pain in my heart returns. "Are you well, Princess?" I ask her, not wanting to miss my chance to see how she is _actually_ doing.

Her draconic eyes widen momentarily, and she smiles, softer this time. "I will be." She answers me and I am not missing how devoid of clues it is. It pains me, hurts me and I have to adhere her request not to go and defy the Queen's will. To defend my Princess' honor. 

 _I can defend myself_ I hear her say to me in my thoughts, masterfully flashing me that false placid smile containing her unheard outcries of help and suffering. _How_ I had almost demanded to know, nearly screaming at her through the plains of prayer and thought.

Nothing comes to me in the haze of my feeble mind, as my Princess measures the words she wishes to say to me. Just as the blanket of daily life is setting itself back on the bottom of my thoughts, my neck hairs stand back on end as I feel trepidation set in when my Princess, as gently as she can, shares her thoughts to me once more. The breeze of her pathokinesis lifts the haze away, and I feel myself ascend to a higher plane of existence as I feel her words come to me in thought.

 

_By enduring._

 

The connection we have is too frail to upkeep itself when the utter shock of these simple words shake me back to the reality I know. Princess Suren watches me sorrowfully, and I need no elaboration to know what this means for her.

I can almost feel the echoes of Suren's durability through the shattered pieces of our connection as it fades from existence. I hear her crying in silence, not creating a single sound while tears streaming down her face in rivers. I hear the scribbling of a pen on smooth paper, the strokes long and slow as I read words of deep sorrow and depression voicing her innermost thoughts and I quickly advert my gaze not wanting to invade her privacy further.

And then I do not see it, but _feel_ it. I feel something ancient, cold and terrifying creep up my mind. Terror and primal fear tell me both to run and disconnect, but I cannot find my willpower of strength to assist me as I am reeled in by something stirring awake now that I have looked too deep. I hear my hearing become muffled, and slowly streaks of green light begin to fill my vision-

A hand, soft and warm touches my shoulder and I am looking into her eyes again. And this time, they not only have concern in them but alarm as well. 

 

The terror is gone. As if it never was there.

 

"Did you...?" I begin to ask her, but she holds up a hand. She doesn't tell me to forget. Nor does she tell me I just witnessed something I wasn't meant to see. But I feel the eyes. Thousands of them, all alerted by our moment in the higher plane of existence.

 

The Vritra gaze upon us and I see my Princess shrink when my terror returns to me as something seizes my memory and thought and _pulls_. 

 

 

 

 

 


	5. The Royal family: The Monster King

 

_Shaped in the body of a lethargic man, he was in fact the unspeakable King of Monsters._

 

 ✿

 

**Log. season of the Claw - 3205 AWP**

 

My hands dance as they weave the runes needed for recording my King's message. Blue light springs to life, creating a light scroll of symbols resembling broken glass and I watch in satisfaction as our language forms itself. I raise the scroll and plant my fingers against it lightly, turning to my King with a smile.

"Your Majesty, I stand ready." I say to him, peering over my shoulder at his cloaked back. He doesn't make a noise or gives me a nod to communicate he's heard me, but I wait patiently. My patience is rewarded when he slowly - with a eerie grace befitting the Vritra that is King Belmont - turns around and looks to me.

Its not a stare that he gives me, nor is it scrutiny. He's merely assessing the words he wishes to present, for I am his Scribe and the King's words are holiest in the fortress he deems his kingdom. 

 

And so it is also true that the King's words can break everything.

 

"Opal." I hear him say quietly, and my musings are ended. With me, he never releases his Scourge. Never unveils the magnitude of the horrid beast that he, my King, in fact truly is. And then, I feel his words come to me in my head.

My hands resume their dance and with unrelenting obsession I recite the words my King radiates onto the fabrics of my mind's threshold, carefully weighed and ready to be spilled into the world in order and command. For my King doesn't use the vile simplicity of human speech to convey his divine creed, for the words painted in the tongues of Man could never convey a message so noble as that of our King.

And as suddenly as it came, the connection is relinquished.

I blink as I lower my arms and look to my King. My King's back is turned to me, but I can see in the profile of his eloquent face his eyes are closed. I look at the massive rectangular shapes I've shaped which hold his Majesty's words. There are fewer today than there were last week, as if the kingdom actually stooped in complete tranquil.

A false promise, as it always has been.

I clap my hands together and my screens vanish. "Shall I relay my reports to the Four Clovers, your Majesty?" I muse out loud, ready to turn my heel and march to the nearest of the High Council leaders. 

"...It is intended for the Spellweavers." 

I freeze. I turn my head, looking worriedly to my King, but his back is still turned to me. I know what it means for the Spellweavers to be gifted their orders, for that also means the Jade Knights will be informed of their new duties.

 

Duties that concern Jade Constructs.

 

I draw a shaky breath and nod curtly. Just as I prepare to open the door of my King's study, the sonorous tones of his voice reel me back. "Stand balanced...Opal." I look over my shoulder, and see my King mimicking my stance as we give eachother a long look. It is only then I see his gaze...is one of understanding. It makes me swallow, even with a dry mouth at my King's gimlet stare.

"I shall find my footing, my Lord." I say to him, but it does not ease the knot in my stomach. The look in his eyes does not change, even when I open the door and quickly step outside. When I am outside, a harsh breath leaves my lungs and I bring a hand to my chest.

Behind me, I sense my Lord's Scourge seize the room in its ever monstrous form, and I quickly march away before it can have an effect on me.

 

"In a hurry are we, Opal my love?"

 

I stop. A cold, foreboding shiver creeps down my spine when I hear these words directed at me. Lesser beings would think of it being one individual being kind, if not a tad flirtatious, to another. My face settles itself into a neutral expression and I turn to greet the King's High Steward.

"Ah, so you actually  _can_ use your eyes to see, can't you Halcyon." I say to him with the kindness of a glacier, making him smirk and step closer to me. The man is the King's personal attendant and handles much of the King's unnecessary political business. 

And Halcyon makes Vandrake look like a saint.

"Come now, Opal. I am merely here to aid you in your errands." He says, smiling as if he didn't just frighten the High Council into abandoning the search for the legendary Jade Knight Marduk. 

A chuckle escapes me, low and mirthless. "The High Steward doesn't aid. He decimates..." I look to him sharply, "...and breaks all who do not comply." Whatever smile the High Steward held, falters somewhat, the cold aura he adorns becoming more obvious in the light of his blood-red eyes.

"As is expected of me, Opal." He confirms with eerie calm, touching the edge of his top-hat with a gloved hand, "I cannot use panicked Vritra running around because they're so deathly afraid of a Jade Construct." I scoff at his words, even as Halcyon casually leans on his staff giving me that bullshit smile to back his standing. "In that..." I say reluctantly, "I suppose we agree." I fold my arms and decide to test the waters here. "I suppose you are aware of the orders given?"

He twirls a lock of his hair, a mockery and an edge of danger to what this man is actually capable off. "Of course, love. Once the King's orders are relayed to Celia's Spellweavers, she in turn will be the guiding hand of the Jade Knights and we can all sleep a little more in blissful ignorance." He looks to me directly, and I barely manage to suppress the urge to gulp at the sudden coldness in his blood-red eyes. "That, I believe, is the never-ending demand it takes in order to uphold the Principles of Truth...am I right?" 

I stare at him, long and hard. It is then that same damn shiver shoots down my spine faster than it did before as the realization kicks in. Halcyon had picked up on my concerns and he came to ensure I enacted the eon-long strangling orders that is supposed to keep this kingdom in - damn this bastard for making me quote him - 'blissful ignorance'. 

Acting as the King's enforcer- no. _Being_ the King's enforcer, as ordered _by_ the King. And that knowing will haunt me, to know my King literally doesn't take any prisoners - as I could have known by seeing how he treats his daughter - my King, who will not be bothered to even spare  _me_ , his own Scribe, in order to keep us _all_ safe and sound. 

And by Vritra himself, do I loathe these men for having made a decision that - for now - is the only course of action to take. So I sigh, long and well-measured, and I nod at the High Steward. When I look up this time, Halcyon doesn't have a smile on his face and merely nods back at me before he spins his heel and leaves me be.

His task was done. I watch his retreating back, clenching my fists and I turn to stride as fast as I can searching for Celia. To give her and the Jade Knights the orders to keep Jade Constructs at bay. To make sure we all lie to our people about the danger we're all in. To keep things quiet and in secrecy.

 

In the name of blissful ignorance.

 

I am loyal to my King. I love my King.

  

But the King will take no prisoners. A monster has no need to.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

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